November 11, 2015
Let me preface this by saying that I love my job… but the last two nights down at the Wells Fargo Center (hockey)/The Center (basketball) were admittedly pretty rough. The Sixers and Flyers each got rocked.
I understand what both “The Process” and Ron Hextall letting his talented young defensemen develop in junior hockey are trying to accomplish, but the teams’ respective long-term strategies should make for some rough nights this winter. With that in mind, let’s get into our first over-under.
The two teams have 71 games left in Philly (37 for the Sixers, 34 for the Flyers), starting tonight when Kyle Lowry comes back home with his Toronto Raptors.
Some might think this number is too high, but both teams can reasonably expect some internal improvement. The Sixers, who won 12 games at home last year, should get Robert Covington, Kendall Marshall, Carl Landry, and Tony Wroten all back at some point. A full-strength squad still won’t be very good, but the Sixers should be much more competitive at home with their full complement of players.
For the Flyers, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare should return soon and mercifully present Dave Hakstol with a chance to get Vinny Lecavalier off the ice. And Jake Voracek has to start scoring sooner or later, right? For reference, the Flyers won 23 games at home last season.
Land the plane!
For the 8,694th time in last two weeks, Klentak was asked for a timeline on when Phils could win. Repeated that players will dictate that.
— Ryan Lawrence (@ryanlawrence21) November 10, 2015
This one is more of a prop bet (submitted on Twitter). The Sixers currently average 91.4 points per game. Last season, the Flyers accumulated 84 total points. I feel like there is enough wiggle room where the Sixers’ points is the choice here, but it’s not out of the question that the Flyers figure some things out as the season goes along.
They got 33 last year despite bowing out in the Round of 32. I feel like the Wildcats will lose a few more games in the regular season this time around (the nonconference schedule presents some challenges), but they should at least make it to the tourney’s second weekend. The Jalen Brunson era will be fun.
This one isn’t Philly-centric, but the Lakers do owe the Sixers a first-round pick that is only protected for picks 1-3. They are unintentionally doing their best to keep it, though. Say what you want about the Sixers, but Brett Brown would never play this guy over D’Angelo Russell:
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
